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Hello, Hi!
Hi! Welcome to RedHeadsBooks! My name is Katie the redhead with the messy bun behind this blog and I’m so happy you’re here! Before we dive into what you can expect from this blog, I’d love to give you some fun facts about me and maybe dive into my reading journey and why I started this blog.
Some fun facts about me:
I am proud Swiftie, like we’re talking I was in the Top 1% of her listeners on Spotify last year kinda Swiftie.
I LOVE the show Supernatural, like I can put on almost any episode and watch like I’ve never seen it before and I even named my furbaby Winchester (I’m a dean girl whose Sam curious).
My favorite genres are mystery/thriller and romance (the spicier the better).
I’m a caffeine addict so if my content seems chaotic it’s probably because I’m over caffeinated.Now that we’ve gotten those fun facts out of the way, I want to quickly describe why I started this blog and give you some insights into what you can expect from me. Growing up I always loved reading, helps that my mom was a school librarian for most of my childhood so she always encouraged me to read and made it fun. I, of course, fell out of my love of reading in high school when I stopped reading for fun and more to just finish an assignment.
It would surprise you after that to hear that when I went to college I originally set out to be an English major who ultimately wanted to write. But of course having to read so many novels for assignments was fun so after I transferred to a university closer to home I quickly changed my major to a more career minded communications. Don’t worry, I have an English Literature minor because there was no way that I was going to let my English courses go to waste.
Reading became both comforting and tough after my mom died. Going to the library with her was one of my favorite things to do, even as an adult, because I loved watching her walk up and down the aisles just picking books like she just knew she would love it. She would have stacks upon stacks of books next to her bed and there were multiple nights that I would be the one to take her glasses off and turn off her light after she fell asleep reading. So when she died it became tough to find joy in reading, though there were a few times that I would find myself picking up a book and getting lost in the pages feeling her comfort while doing so.
For the next few years I would pick up a book here or there between the rat race of trying to find a job and then once I landed a job I got into audiobooks since I was spending so much time commuting to work that it was perfect to spend my time in the car getting lost in an audiobook and I lucked out with a coworker that was in a book club so we were able to read and discuss the books she was reading together. This is when I found my love of reading again and late last year I got a kindle, which was a game changer for me, especially when I got my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I was devouring books both long and short.
So that’s where this blog comes in. I wanted a place to put down my thoughts on the books I’m reading like it was my own little book club. The plan is to have book reviews, books I’ve got on my TBR list (that grows almost every time I go on TikTok thanks #booktok), and my favorite books I’ve read throughout the years with a few anticipated releases.
I hope you join me on this ride and feel free to drop your book recs in the comments or if you follow on social in the dms because I’m always looking for new books to read.
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A Flicker in the Dark By Stacy Willingham
Genre: Thriller/Crime
Rating: 4 stars
This book was a ride, mostly filled with wild twists and turns with a few lulls.
Chloe Davis’ father was arrested and convicted twenty years ago after six girls had gone missing in her small Louisiana town. Chloe, her brother Cooper, and their mother were left to grapple with the fallout of her father being labeled a serial killer and figure out how they’re going to move forward.
20 years later, Chloe thinks she’s got it all figured out; she’s a psychologist with her own practice, engaged to a wonderful man, but her grip on happiness is fragile. Some days still feels like that young girl with no control over her own life instead of the adult woman with a good job and an impending wedding to look forward to. But then a local girl goes missing and Chloe’s fragile mental state snaps.
With our unreliable narrator at the helm we’re set up go on a wild ride that will have us questioning if Chloe’s on the track to finding out the truth or is she paranoid and making it all up as she goes along?
I loved this book. The premise is exactly what I look for in a book like this, but with Chloe’s unreliable nature at times it’s hard to stay on track. There are times where there’s too much focus on Chloe’s anxiety or panic that the ride we’re on can feel like we’re traveling on those stretches of highway where it’s all cornfields for miles and you can find yourself hypnotized by the road. But these tough bits I understand were important to the story because it was a front row seat to Chloe’s mental state.
I had an inkling in the beginning about who actually killed the girls because the dad never felt like the killer, but thanks to Chloe’s mental state and those tough to get through bits started to make me question if I was right or wrong, which did help me get through the book because I wanted to know what other wild turns or information we were going to get next.
Even with my hunch, I wasn’t even remotely prepared for how the story was going to end which is what I love most about the book. I couldn’t put the book down when we got towards the end because it was so crazy that I had to know what was happening. It was one of the best endings I’ve read in a book like this in awhile.
While this book lost a star for me because some of the dragging bits, I still think it’s worth picking up and giving a read if you like this kind of book. Stacy Willingham is a fantastic writer and she paints such a vivid picture that I will be picking up her new book to see what wild ride she has in store for me.
If you decide to give this book a shot let me know what you thought!
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Romances I’m Dying to Read This Year Pt. 1
Not that Kind of Ever After Luci Adams
The premise of this book hit me right off the bat because Bella’s life is not how she thought it would be. She thought would be an author, instead she’s a receptionist at a small press and she thought she would’ve found her soulmate but in the culture of swiping right and serial date that feels impossible. Coupled with her best friend getting married, Bella’s left feeling rudderless. I know this feeling, I’m currently sort of feeling like this, not having a true destination like you’re just stuck in place while everyone else is moving forward in life. So Bella, with her not hot (he’s probably smoking hot) brother Marty says to have fun, Bella does just that and after telling her disastrous story online is suddenly virally famous and now has to chase more fairytales to share with her followers, but first she has to live them.
I can’t wait to see what adventures Bella will go on in this book and according to Barnes and Noble it’s slated for a March 14th release date. You can preorder it here from Barnes and Noble or if you want to support smaller independent bookstores you can preorder here.
Hello Billionaire Kelsie Hoss
If you haven’t read Kelsie’s series Confession of you should because they are hilarious and just the right amount of spice to make you hot and bothered but still driving the plot forward. So of course, when I finished the last book “Confession of a Funny Fat Friend” I low key wanted to know more about Tyler’s brother Gage, because he was giving off the hot billionaire vibes that I’m not so secretly in love with. So I’m happy that we’re finally going to dive into Gage’s world and see him hopefully find love or at least realize that there’s more to life than working.
Just in case that didn’t sell you on this book, here’s the summary that will hopefully pique your interest: Hello Billionaire is a grumpy/sunshine rom com featuring a steamy (I’ll add intense and demanding) billionaire, a plus-size single mom, three matchmaking children, and one hell of a happy ever after.
With a slated release date of 3/31 you can preorder here.
Happy Place Emily Henry
Listen if you’ve read Book Lovers (or my review) then you know why I’m excited about this book. I loved the characters in Book Lovers so I’m interested to see Henry can capture that same magic in a bottle again. But also the premise of the book sounds so good because I know it’s going to take me on a wild ride (hopefully). You’ve got a couple that broke up but didn’t tell their best friends so when its time for their yearly cabin trip, the last one since the cabin has been sold, the exes decide to play their roles because how hard can it be to pretend you’re in love with someone you broke up with 6 months prior? Exes with forced proximity is such a good trope that I can’t wait to see how badly this charade goes for these exes who also have to pretend that they don’t see how badly they still want each other.
It’s slated to release on April 25th so preorder from B&N here or from bookshop.org here.
Romantic Comedy Curtis Sittenfeld
I’m so excited about this book because it’s looking at the phenomenon of average looking guys handing the glamorous super pretty girls and wondering if the reverse could ever happen. But Sally, the main character, has sworn off love until the dreamy pop star enters her life and if life were a rom com she’d be finding her happy after. And this girl is super excited to see if Sally can live out the dreams of the average looking, or not conventionally pretty, girls wildest dreams and land the super hot pop star.
I will definitely be purchasing this book when it comes out on April 4th and if you too want to see how this romantic comedy plays out you can preorder from B&N here or Bookshop.org here.
Business or Pleasure Rachel Lynn Soloman
Who doesn’t love a “we hooked up and thought we’d never see each other, only to be forced to work together & oh by the way the hookup wasn’t that great for one party” kind of book? That’s exactly what happens to Chandler Cohen in “Business or Pleasure”, she is feeling like invisible as a ghostwriter and meets a charming man at the bar and has the most hilariously awkward hookup. She thought she could put this hookup behind for her good to find out her next project is working with said charming man Finn Walsh. Of course, Chandler tries to keep their partnership professional but accidentally admits to Finn that their hook was not has mind-blowing as he thought. But there’s something about Finn that has Chandler schooling him in the art of seduction and they’ll have to figure out what’s more important: business or pleasure? There’s no chance they can have both, right?
If you’re intrigued, you can preorder from B&N here or bookshop.org here.
With Love, From Cold World Alicia Thompson
Listen, I LOVE Love in the Time of Serial Killers, like love in the sense that I want to find my own Sam kinda love. So when I saw that Alicia has a new book coming out, I immediately wanted to read it. And that desire to read it only grew when I actually read the premise because really who doesn’t love a “enemies compete to come up with the best idea to raise revenue at their less than stellar winter wonderland in Orlando, Florida but while competing they fingure out that they’re polar opposites that might actually be perfect for each other” kind of love story?
I’m ready to read how these two can generate their own heat in their winter wonderland when it comes out in August. As always you can preorder from B& N here or bookshop.org here.
Let me know in the comments if you’re adding any of these to your TBR and stay tuned for part 2!
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Nice Girls By Catherine Dang
Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Crime
Rating: 3.5/5Mary was always seen the “nice girl.” She was that quiet smart girl, and chubby, so she went mostly ignored in high school. She dreamed of getting out of her small Minnesota town and she did it. She managed to earn a scholarship to Cornell, but that only lasted three years before she’s back in her small town. This time she’s thinner and has more edge to her than she did before. She’s definitely brought back more baggage then she left down with three years ago. She takes a nothing job in the local grocery store and tries to find her footing in the midst of the downward spiral her life is currently on.
But then the beautiful, wannabe influencer Olivia Willand goes missing. Olivia is magnetic and admired by all of those in Liberty Lake, except Mary knows better. She knows just how manipulative and harsh Olivia can be when she wants to be. So while everyone in town is wrapped up with finding out what happened to their ‘it’ girl Olivia, Mary finds out about another missing nineteen-year-old girl and can’t help but wonder if the two disappearances are tied together.
Mary’s going to pry at the careful facades of the two girls to find out if they are connected and she’ll expose an ugly truth in the process.
I have mixed feelings about this book. There are definitely pieces that I loved that made me want to keep reading, but there were also some things that had me almost throwing this book into my DNF shelve.
Let’s me start with what I absolutely loved about it. The mystery/thriller aspect was so good. There were multiple times that I fell victim to the narrator’s thoughts on who was behind the disappearances of both girls and I was CONVINCED that she was right. Only to a view pages/chapters later having that conviction blown up and we were back to square one. So that constant I know who did it to nope that was way off aspect of the story had me hooked to see who was actually behind it. I also loved how the author wrote about topics like racism, pressure to fit in, and the parent/child relationship, it felt authentic.
Now I had a slight problem with the narrator, I didn’t feel like I ever got a real sense of who she was. Sure, I got glimpses of her from her thinking about her high school years and college years before getting kicked out. But I couldn’t really ever picture her, like I almost wanted a more concrete image of her in my mind. She also changed her mind so much in the last like 30% of the book that I started to not trust her and questioned everything she said or thought.
I won’t spoil the ending, but I kinda had a problem with the ending. On one hand, I LOVED the reveal. It was totally unexpected and had me frantically trying to recall if there were any clues to help get us to this conclusion. Which in my opinion makes for a good mystery. I like when the reveal comes out of nowhere. But on the other hand, it felt like it came a little too much out of nowhere. I wanted more breadcrumbs hidden in the story so that when I did go back I could have that “I can’t believe I didn’t see this or that” moment ya know?
But overall I’d say to give this book a chance like I did because there are some really good points throughout the story that resonated with me.
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The Book of Cold Cases Review
The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James
Genre: Thriller with a paranormal thriller sub genre
Rating: 5 Stars
This book is everything I could ask for in a book: suspense, mystery, page turning thrill, unrequited love that broke my heart, and a sprinkle of slow burn romance that had me gasping out loud at the height of the burn.
The Book of Cold Cases is told through two narrators. The main narrator and the protagonist (look at me putting my English Lit minor to good use) of the book is Shea Collins. Shea has a complicated past that has her living a sheltered life. She can’t ride in a car, so she takes public transit everywhere. She goes to work and is home before dark, but given her careful way of life it’s interesting that she chooses to spend every night working away on her crime site The Book of Cold Cases. While she’s at work one day, she has a run in with the most infamous person of her small town Claire Lake, Beth Greer.
Beth Greer is a cold and calculated woman. Her family was considered the most wealthy families before tragedy struck. Her father Julian is killed in a freak home invasion when she’s 17 years old and two years later her mother dies in a car accident, leaving her all by herself in their weird family mansion. She’s also considered the lady killer who murdered two men in cold blood back in the 70s and despite being charged was acquitted of all charges at trial. The only evidence that they had was an eye witness who claimed to have seen Beth running from the scene of the second murder and the gun used matched that of the home invasion that killed her father.
For years Beth has refused to talk to anyone about the murders, but after a curious conversation with Shea, it seems that she’s ready to talk. It’s the interview of a lifetime for aspiring crime blogger Shea, who has no idea the ride she’s about to go on that might lead to solving the oldest crime in her small town.
Wow that was hard to write without spoiling anything. But let’s get onto my thoughts on the book shall we?
Shea was the best main character in this story. Her complicated past led to the best character growth from beginning to end was everything. I loved how we didn’t really know just how she got to where she was until the very end when she felt comfortable enough with Michael to tell him. It felt like she finally trusted the audience as well to know. I was pulling for Shea from page one, which is rare in a novel but I’m so happy that she only got better.
Now Beth, oh Beth. I have complicated feelings about Beth as a character. One on the hand, I felt so bad for her. She had been carrying around the truth about what happened with not only the Lady Killer murders but the home invasion and just her life in general that I wanted her to finally speak. But then on the other hand, she’s so cold and calculated that even her telling the “truth” felt like a game where I didn’t believe her. Even at the very end I still had doubts that she had really given Shea the true story. But ultimately Beth’s story ended the very way that she wanted it to which was frustrating beyond belief.
This book had so many twists and turns that had me turning the pages to see what would Beth put us through next. I have pages of actual notes of my theories of where it was going because just when I thought I had it figured out some other nugget of information would come out that would blow my theory out of the water. Simone St. James did a great job building the suspense until the final act.
If you happen to pick this book up and give it a go, let me know what you think in the comments below!
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Book Lovers By Emily Henry
Genre: Romance
Rating: 5 Stars, No 10 stars
Holy smokes the sexual tension and banter in this book.
The time has come, after seeing it hyped across Booktok and Booksta for MONTHS, I finally caved and read Book Lovers by Emily Henry. I will be honest, I wanted to hate this book I really did, because there is no chance that a book is hyped up would be good. But holy moly did Emily Henry hit it so far out of the ballpark we can’t see the ball anymore it was so good.
It’s been a few weeks since I finished this book and I’m still thinking about it from time to time. And again being honest, I’m almost using it as a rating guide for any romance book I attempt to read, which probably isn’t far but this book set my 2023 book bar SO HIGH it’s hard not to do.
A little background (with no spoilers I promise):
Nora Stephens’ life is books, she’s read them all and knows that she is not that kind of heroine. She’s not the small town girl who gets the big city guy who came in to buy her parent’s failing farm, or the happy go lucky girl that meets her soulmate in the bookstore on a random Tuesday afternoon. The only heroine you could ever call her is the one for her clients, for them and her little sister Libby there is nothing wouldn’t do. That’s how she finds herself in a small town in North Carolina for the month of August. Libby is convinced that Nora needs to step away from her workaholic ways and become the romance book heroine of her own life.
Enter our male lead of this adventure Charlie Lastra. He shares a past with Nora has an editor that turned her down years prior to their spontaneous reunion in the small town of Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. He’s actually from there and has come back to help his mom run her bookstore (which come on now perfect is that?). Anyway Charlie is like Nora, in that he’s a workaholic who loves his work and they end up having to put aside their tension (sexual tension) and work together, which will throw Nora’s carefully planned solo existence into a tailspin and take you on a ride until the every end of the book.
Which their love story is what I love most about this book. Charlie is the best book boyfriend I’ve read in a while because he not only sees Nora, the real Nora, but he also doesn’t want to change her. He likes her just the way she is and is willing to find a way to fit himself into her life unlike her previous failed romantic suitors who wanted to change everything about her. He also gives Nora the space she needs to figure things out, he isn’t giving her ultimatums and all that drive the couple apart in the third act. Their relationship is real and so authenthic it kept me on the tip of toes wondering when they’d finally figure out how perfect they were for each other.
I also really loved Nora’s grief over losing her mom. Even though it had been years, for Nora there were days where it felt so real. Her journey of feeling like she had to take care of her sister because she was the only family Nora had left was so genuine and heartbreaking at the same time. Nora put her life on hold to take care of Libby and just continued to do things in her life to make Libby’s life easier which is such a noble and loving thing to do, even though you could tell that it was driving Nora to the breaking point.
The ending of this book was perfection. We had gone on this journey of “will they, won’t they” between Nora and Charlie that I was almost scared we’d enter Hallmark movie territory with that happy ever after they ride off into the sunset ending, but the way that Emily Henry wrapped it was perfection. It wrapped it up in such a way that it kept you guessing much like Nora and Charlie had kept you guessing throughout the novel.
I’m happy that I took so long to read this book because it was definitely worth the wait. It’s the perfect kind of book for my fellow readers that loved Gilmore Girls because the cast of characters in Sunshine Falls reminded me of Stars Hallow and Nora definitely gave off Rory vibes (more Rory when she’s with Jess vibes). I’d also recommend this book to any romance fan that loves a story where the love story isn’t Hollywood perfect but authentic and real.
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How I’m Breaking My Reading Slump/Funk
I’ve been in a weird reading slump, or funk, the last week or so and it’s been frustrating because I have so many books on my TBR shelf that I’m excited to read and so many more books that are coming out or I’m finding out about that I want to read. I figured it out the other day that all those books on my shelf and those I’m seeing online in the booktok/booksta community is what led me to fall into my funk.
So, I took to the internet to see what other people were doing to break their slump and here’s some of the things I’ve found to help me break my reading slump:
- Reading only 5-10 pages of as many books that I can: this helped me keep the routine of reading without the pressure of committing to the book. I did this with probably 10 books on my shelf and it was so freeing. Towards the end of this week when I started a book I found myself going past the 10 pages and now I’m on to part 2 of the book so hopefully that means I’m out of my weird funk.
- Find a little reading time for yourself: I made it a priority to put time in my day for reading. Some days it can be as little as 10 mins and others as long as an hour. But I was dedicated in making sure it was on my to-do list and I would do it every day.
- Try reading somewhere new: I either read in the living room if I’m working through a physical book since the lighting is better and I usually have a sweet pup in my lap or if I’m reading on my kindle it’s in bed. So I decided to switch it up and grabbed my physical book and went into my office space to read for a bit and it was a good change of pace.
- Read a short book: I love novellas because the plot moves quickly and since they are shorter I can usually get through a full one in a short amount of time. This helped break up my reading slump because I was getting through a lot of novellas and keeping up with the routine of reading everyday.
- Be kind to yourself for not reading: I usually try to read both a physical book and my kindle everyday (gotta keep my streak) but some days I would only manage a few pages on my kindle to keep the streak and that was enough. I can’t push myself to do more some days because then reading becomes a chore and this hobby is fun for me.
Hopefully you’ll keep these tips in mind the next time you find yourself in a slump. Drop your favorite tips for breaking a reading slump in the comments to help someone else suffering through a reading slump.
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My Rating System
Hi!
Before I dive into writing book reviews I thought it would be beneficial to go over quickly the rating system I use for all the books I’m reading. You can see in the image below a brief description per each rating, but we’ll go a little more in depth below.
One Star Rating:
Most of the time, this kind of book I didn’t even finish. Most likely I got a little bit into it and just couldn’t force myself to keep reading so it went straight into my DNF pile/donate bin. This is an extreme case as I do try to finish books in the hopes that it gets better. But you know that there are just some books that no matter how hard you try to read them it’s useless. And yes, these books make me so sad because I know that the author worked really hard on this book and I spent money on it so it’s sad all around.Two Star Rating:
This book was okay enough for me to finish. I definitely wouldn’t attempt reading it again. It was also tough for me to get through but I did finish it and usually I’ll try to find some redeeming quality about it, though it might be a minuscule one.Three Star Rating:
This kind of book was fine, didn’t wow me but wasn’t a total drag to get through. I also probably don’t regret buying this book and have a few things that I liked about it. I might also keep this book in my would recommend list on the off chance someone is looking for a book like it.Four Star Rating:
This book was great. It had a lot of elements that I loved that also kept me reading. There might be a few things that threw me off from the book but would definitely recommend.Five Star Rating:
This kind of book will always start with me saying “OMG THIS BOOK!” It was excellent and I loved every single minute of it like I couldn’t put it down kind of book. It kept me entertained or emotional through every page and when it was over I could easily go back to the beginning and read it all over again. This kind of book is the at the top of my recommendations list and I will drop the title at the mere inkling that someone wants to know a good book to read.
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